USE A SEX TENT TO SHOOT WHAT? Ian at Truck and Barter observes that along the German coast, lighthouses might be rendered obsolete as more skippers rely on their Global Positioning System, hereafter GPS, receivers to navigate. He's not impressed with the argument that the lighhouses are a useful backup to the GPS.

Individuals that decide to ply the Germans seas without proper training and without the appropriate tools are choosing to take risks. The public receives no benefit from it, and isn't really in danger of being hurt the way drunk drivers end up hurting others. The larger companies, on the other hand, have invested time and money into preparing for the eventuality of a GPS failure. Seems to me that Germans (and others) are being taxed to protect someone's sense of nostalgia.

Although that statement makes sense, it conflates two phenomena: paying for uneconomic backup systems, and incompetent recreational sailors. This quote from the linked Spiegel article is really recognizing the second phenomenon.

[Naval historian Heinrich] Bauermeister fears hobby captains are losing more and more of their skills as a result of modern technologies. If their GPS systems were to malfunction, they could face serious danger. "The sense of orientation is one that must be constantly trained," he cautions. "Those who now only rely on GPS are losing this important ability, which can save lives in dangerous situations."

The problem, however, is a separate problem from the closure of lighthouses, as sailors are more likely to get into trouble on the high seas.

"Navigation with GPS may seem easy, but in truth it isn't," said Georg Fries of the Nautical Association in Brunsbuettel, a German coastal hamlet northwest of Hamburg. For one thing, GPS can never be 100 percent reliable -- extreme weather conditions like hail or snowfall or even solar winds are known to disrupt service. The Pentagon, which operates the system, also has the ability to suspend or scramble service during major crises, as it did briefly during the war in Kosovo. "If that happens, ship captains will lose their orientation at sea," warns Fries. "It will be like getting lost in a dark forest."

The former marine traffic controller says he was especially disquieted after reading a recent article in Lloyd's List, an influential shipping industry publication, stating that US President George W. Bush was considering a plan to scramble GPS during times of "extraordinary threats to national security." The Europeans have also left open the option of scrambling Galileo, the EU competitor to GPS scheduled to go into service by the end of the decade, during times of crisis. Fries finds this equally unsettling.

Problems aboard a ship, including engine room fires that could temporarily cut off electricity, can also disrupt GPS equipment. Once the juice is sucked out of a ship's back-up batteries, the monitors flickering with the electronic ocean maps and satellite-supported positioning information will go black -- possibly putting a ship close to shore into a dangerous position.

The lee shore is no place to be with no power and no knowledge of one's position, but the featureless open ocean will also kill you if you don't show the proper respect. The ocean may still kill you if you know how to reckon your position with a sextant and a good watch, but your odds are a bit better.